Flag Burning Set for Weekend

Retirement ceremony offers dignified sendoff

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Enraged veterans at a VFW Post in upstate New York duct-taped a young man to a flagpole after he was spotted setting the Post's American flag on fire.

Updated at 1:17 PM CST on Friday, Jun 11, 2010

A lot of people and organizations in North Texas are fond of displaying their patriotism by flying an American flag outside their properties. And why wouldn’t they be?

But too many of those flags show signs of wear and tear, tatter and torn, faded Stars and Stripes, and they cease to be a fitting symbol of the Union, and, really, they should be put to the torch.

But that’s cool. The U.S. Code Title 4, §8(k) reads, “The flag, when it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting symbol for display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning.”

Anyway, Oldwornflag.com and the Dallas Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution conduct a flag retirement ceremony, open to the public and the republic, to properly dispose of flags that have aged beyond their dignity starting at 2 p.m., June 13 — the day before Flag Day — at Flagpole Hill in the White Rock area of Dallas.

The event features all manner of pomp and circumstance with speeches by local politicians, patriotic music, presentations by various civic and service organizations, a rifle volley fired by the Lone Star Chapter of Paralyzed Veterans of America, and “Taps” will be played by Bugles Across America.

The Traveling Liberty Bell, an exact replica stand-in for the iconic original, also makes an appearance, which seems pretty cool, too.